Alberthead Lagoon in Metchosin, B.C. Bear Cove in Port Hardy, B.C. Bob's Spot in the Plumper Island Group, B.C. Braemar Ave in North Saanich, B.C. Breakwater Island near Gabriola Pass, B.C. Browning Passage near Port Hardy, B.C. Browning Wall near Port Hardy, B.C. China Creek near Port Alberni, B.C. Clover Point in Victoria, B.C. Copper Cliffs near Campbell River, B.C. Daphne Islet near Brentwood Bay Deep Cove near Sidney, B.C. Discovery Island near Victoria, B.C. Dolphin Beach near Nanoose Bay, B.C. Elliot's Beach Park in Ladysmith, B.C. Five Fathom near Port Hardy, B.C. Forest Island (north end) near Sidney, B.C. GB Church [ship to reef] near Sidney, B.C. Gowland Point on South Pender Island, B.C. Henderson Point near Sidney, B.C. Madrona Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Maple Bay near Duncan, B.C. McKenzie Bight near Victoria, B.C. McNeill Point aka Kitty Islet in Victoria, B.C. Neck Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Northeast Pearse Wall, Telegraph Cove, B.C. Ogden Point in Victoria, B.C. Porteau Cove Marine Park, B.C. Port McNeil, B.C. Rocky Point in Nanaimo, B.C. Row & Be Damned near Campbell River, B.C. Saltery Bay near Powell River,B.C. Saxe Point in Esquimalt, B.C. Sidney, B.C. Ten Mile Point in Victoria, B.C. Wall Beach near Nanoose Bay, B.C. Whytecliff Park near Vancouver, B.C. Willis Point near Sidney, B.C. International Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii, USA Kaui - an Island of Hawaii, USA < Aquatic but Non-Marine Life Vancouver Island, B.C.

Scuba Diving Pictures from Maplebay east of Duncan, B.C. Canada These are medium quality jpegs. But I have the RAW images as well. Email tjfidler@telus.net Directions to the Dive Site are located at the bottom of the page. Note: This page is under construction , 2009 Number of dives I've done at this scuba diving site: 4 Additional notes: Lifeforms I saw here that I did not get a picture of or the quality was too poor: Type of dive: shore dive Rating for this dive site: 6/10 due to its consistent poor water quality in the first 3 separate days of diving. Parking: Space for 3-4 cars in first parking lot, but there is a bigger parking lot about 200 feet further up the road. Bathroom/Washroom/Toilet: Not really. Boat ramp: Yes at the second parking lot. Ease of entry:  [Wheel chair access: Yes] Easy access and short distance to water. Second parking lot can use boat ramp for wheel chairs. Abundance of life: 7/10 Accommodations: Attractions: Bottom and depth: Rock structure about 30 feet [10 m] to the right of the dock, and further out straigth from the dock. To the right the depth is about 30 feet [10 m] deep. But the rock structure that is further and straight out, peaks at about 60 feet [20 m] deep. Facilities: Restaurant beside parking lot. Hazards/Obstacles: Boat traffic has been light, but it exists here. Sensitivity to tide/current: Terrain: The bottom covers everything as it is rocky & sandy, and there is some solid rock further and straight out from dock. Tides, transportation and weather: Fisheries and Oceans Canada Tide Page., BC Ferries Schedule and Sailings. , The Weather Network If you like these pages, and wish this web site to continue, please remember to check out some of the Google Ads. Just clicking on the ads helps pay for the web site.

The following images are thumbnails. If you click on them a larger image will open up and the picture will take up most of your screen. Again these are medium quality jpegs. Higher quality images can be purchased directly from me via paypal using my email address tjfidler@telus.net And many of these photos can be found for sale on Cafepress through the Calendar link and Photo CD link. As well some of these can be found as posters via Cafepress, and some of these ocean life photographs are available as widescreen backgrounds via the widescreen link immediately below some of the photographs.

A few people have already asked me about "What is that pink stuff on the rocks in some of the pictures?" Well, they're usually Pink Rock Crust (aka Encrusting Coralline Algae) or in some cases might even be Encrusting Hydrocorals. The algae are eaten by a variety of animals - apparently as a good source of calcium.


Links to the various groups of organisms:
Cephalopods, Crustaceans, Fish, Mollusks, Nudibranchs, Sea Anemones, Sea Cucumbers & Echinoderms, Sponges, Tunicates, Worms, Miscellaneous

Cephalopods

Pacific Giant Octopus [Enteroctopus dolfeini] - juvenile ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] tall.	Pacific Giant Octopus [Enteroctopus dolfeini] ~ 12 inches [30 cm] wide.
Pacific Giant Octopus [Enteroctopus dolfeini] ~ 10 inches [25 cm] wide in this  digital image. Sometimes its hard to believe these animals are catergorized under  mollusks. For more on Cephalopods check out this link on them in Wikipedia.	This is how you know you are near an Octopus den. Just look for a larger number of dead crabs that also appear to be broken up. If the crustacean shell is intact then the crab has just probably molted and not been killed by an octopus.

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Crustaceans

Decorator Crabs	Decorator Crabs
Moss Crab	Kelp Crab
Redrock Crab [Cancer productus] ~ 8 inches [20 cm] wide. Quite common at this scuba diving site.

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Fish

Black Eyed Goby ~ 5 inches [12.5 cm] long.	C-Sole ~ 10 inches [25 cm] long.
Long Spined Sculpin ~ 12 inches [30 cm] long. This is only the second time that I have run into this species in over 300 dives. The other location was Neck Point in Nanaimo. But here at Maple Bay I actually spotted 3 of them.
Pacific Staghorn [Leptocottus armatus] ~ 14 inches [35 cm] long. These fish were  common here but I only spotted them as it became a night dive.	Pacific Staghorn [Leptocottus armatus] - often they are partially hidden in the sand  like this.
Rockfish ~ 8 inches [20 cm] long.	Scalyhead Sculpin [Artedius harringtoni] ~ 6 inches [15 cm] long.
Sculpin	Roughback Sculpin
Smooth Alligator fish	White Spotted fish

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Mollusks

Moonsnail Egg Collar or Case ~ 12 inches [30 cm] wide.	Geoduck Clam siphon ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] and a young Swimming Anemone.
Geoduck Clam ~ 5 inches [12.5 cm] tall. It was sticking out about 12 inches when I first approached it but they retract back into the sand quite quickly to protect themselves.	Pacific Rock Oysters ~ 2 inches [5 cm] in diameter.

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Nudibranchs [or Sea Slugs] & Snails

Giant Dendronotid [Dendronotus iris] ~ 10 inches [25 cm] long. These nudibranchs  were quite common at this scuba diving site. This is not their normal colour.	Giant Dendronotid [Dendronotus iris] ~ 8 inches [20 cm] long. These nudibranchs  were quite common at this scuba diving site. This color is not their normal one. See the next digital image for their normal colouring.
Giant Dendronotid ~ 12 inches [30 cm] long. This is the normal color of these nudibranchs. This one is about to bite the Tube Dwelling Anemone in front of it. And I thought I was taking video after this digitial still image, but afterwards I was shocked to discover I had not pushed the start button for video. Doh. :(	Gold Dirona ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] long. I ran into this nudibranch on the poles of the floating government dock here in Maple Bay.
Striped Nudibranch or California Armina ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] long. Until this year  I had never spotted one of these animals, but in the spring I ran into over ten of them at Neck Point in Nanaimo.	White Lined Dirona ~ 2 inches [5 cm] long.

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Sea Anemones & Jellyfish ( Cnidarians )

The animal on the left is a Jelly Dwelling Anemone ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide. This is the only one I have ever seen or at least noticed.	Jellyfish ~ 12 inches [30 cm] long with the tentacles
Plumose Anemones ~ 2 feet [60 cm] tall for the largest one.	Plumose Anemones ~ 6 inches [15 cm] tall for the largest one.
White Anemone ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] tall.

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 Sea Cucumbers & Starfish ( Echinoderms )

Brittle Stars beside a Geoduck Clam. ~ 4 inches [10 cm] wide. There were literally hundreds of brittle starfish in the area.
Morning Star ~ 14 inches [35 cm] wide.	Mottled Star
Mottled Star	Purple Star ~ 12 inches [30 cm] wide. Just under the dock at Maple Bay.
Rose Star ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide.	Sea Cucumber ~ 18 inches [45 cm] long.
Spiny Pink Star ~ 3 feet [1 m] wide.	Spiny Pink Star ~ 14 inches [35 cm] wide.
Striped Sun Star	Striped Sun Star
Sunflower Star ~ 2.5 feet [75 cm] wide. These starfish were quite common at this scuba diving site.	Sunflower Star ~ 6 inches [15 cm] wide. Not that this is a juvenile and note that it does not yet have the normal orange colouration of an adult.
White Sea Urchin ~ 3 inches [7.5 cm] wide.

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Sponges

Orange Finger Sponge ~ 10 inches [25 cm] tall. Very common at this scuba diving site.

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Tunicates



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Worms


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Miscellaneous


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If you want to locate this site on a map, or print out a map, you can user either:

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